In an emergency, you need a plain old radio or TV

By Bob Brewin

January 10, 2013

That’s one of the key, upfront messages in the Federal Communications Commission report on the June 2012 storm that knocked out communications and emergency 9-1-1 services in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the country.

Conventional radio and TV broadcasters operated without a hiccup in the wake of that storm, the FCC said, filling a valuable role as “first informers” when nothing else worked.

Public safety call centers worked with broadcasters “to provide updates on 9-1-1 service and alternate ways of obtaining emergency assistance….some reports advised residents to call 9-1-1 only for true emergencies, and provided 10-digit administrative numbers for other questions about cooling shelters and restoration of power,” the FCC said.

The FCC noted -- and I imagine this is for the iThing generation -- that plain old radios work real well on plain old, inexpensive batteries that don’t require charging.